Method of piston-ring manufacture



Sept. 18, 1923. 11,468,355

c. E. CARSON METHOD OF PISTON RING MANUFACTURE v 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledApril 13, 1922 Inuenfor CharlesECarson Sept. 1-8, 1923. M68355 C. E.CARSON F PISTON R MANUFACTURE Filed April 13. 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 2Sept. 18 1923. 11,468,355

c. E. CARSON METHOD OF PISTON RING MANUFACTURE Filed April 13. 1922 3Sheets-Sheet 5 lnuenfor 8 483i CharlesELarson enema Sept. as, rare.

UNHTED STATE @FFHGEZ.

CHARLES E. CARSON, OF ALLEG-AN, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR 01E ONE-FIFTH T FRED-ERICK 1E. ROYCE, 03E GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

METHOD OF PISTON-RING MANUFAGTUR'E.

Application filed April 13, 1922. Serial No. 552,205.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. GAnsoN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Allegan, in the county of Allegan and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methodsof Piston-Ring Manufacture; and it do hereby declare the following to bea full,

clear, and exact description of the invention, Ml) such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to makesand use thesame.

This invention relates to a method or process of making piston ringssuch as are used 1& in large numbers in internal combustion engines. Theprimary object and urpose of the present invention is to roll an formand then size and simultaneously compress and temper the ring, alltaking place very rapidfio ly so that a large quantity production ofrings may be had, and the manufacture of the same from flat bar stockvery easily and readily accomplished. Various other objects and purposessubsidiary to the main object will be apparent as understanding of theinvention is had from the following description, taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, showing a more or less diagrammaticlay-out of the mechanism used in carrying out the process, in whichdrawig. 1 is a side elevation showing the assembly and lay-out ofmechanism used in performing the process.

' 5 Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the straight sections cutfrom the bar stock in the first step of the process which is laterrolled into ring form.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view ofthe ring rolled therefrom.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan, with a part in section, showing the mannerof cutting the bar stock into lengths for rings.

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section through the ring rollingmechanism, the be ginning of the formation of a ring from the sectionlengths being shown.

Fig. 6 is a like view at the termination of the ring rolling.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary front elevation of the ring rolling mechanism,the rings being shown partly in section.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical section through the ringsizing and tempering mechanism, showing the same in one position.

Fig. 9 is a like view of said mechanism in another position.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical section through the ring andthe sizing and tempering punch and die, and

Fig. 11 is a plan View looking at the ring sizing and tempering diebelow the plane of line 11-11, of Fig. 8.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the diiferent figuresof the drawin s.

n the performance of the method or process, the bar stock is fed into apunch press, indicated at 1, the'pieces or sections cut being carried bya conveyor 2 upward to an inclined feed table 3 down which they pass tothe ring rolling mechanism, at 4. The rolled rings are carried therefromby a second conveyor 5 to a hopper, or a plurality of hoppers 6, fromwhich they are individually taken and acted upon by the ring sizing andtempering machine, also similar in most respects to a punch press. Thismakes a continuous process, as more or less diagrammatically illustratedin Fig. 1.

In the first step of the method, the bar stock having a cross sectionsomewhat larger than the cross section of the ring to be formedtherefrom is fed in any desired manner over the die 8 of the punchpress, indicated at 1, the punch 9 carried by the ram of the pressperiodically coming down and cutting the stock into the requiredlengths. A length gage bar 10 having a stop lateral extension 10 isadjustably connected with a bar 11 projecting from the die 8, a) setscrew 12 passing through an elongated slot 13 in bar 10 for the readyadjustment of the gage bar with respect to the die. The punch 9 is of aform, as best shown in Fig. 4, that the bar stock is cut into lengths orsections 14: havinglap joint projections 15 at the ends of one half thewidth, substantially, of the said sections. It is to be understood,however, that the well known diagonal joint may be made quite as well,if desired, merely requiring a change in the punch and die.

The conveyor 2 is an endless belt passing around pulleys 16, one on thepunch press MID 1 and the other On suitable supporting frame work infront of the ring rolling machine. The rings rolled in such machine areformed from the sections 14 which, after delivery from the conveyor tothe table 3 are guided lengthwise down the table to the ring rollingrollers 17, 18 and 19. The roller 17 is located above and between theother rollers 18 and 19, and said roller 17 is grooved with a pluralityof spacedapart annular grooves 17, into each of which a ring section 'isguided. A number of the rings are formed at one time, the ring rollingmechanism being operated slower than the first punch press cuttingmechanism.

At the beginning of the rolling operation the ends of the sections 14are bent downwardly by punches 20, projecting from a bar 20. This shapesthe sections so that the same readily pass between the rollers 18 and19. At the end of the rolling operation, the opposite ends of thesections are bent downwardly by like punches 21 extending from the bar21. Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate these operations, whereby the rolling isproperly accomplished without leaving ends projecting tangentially.

The rings are carried by the conveyor 5 which is of the endless type andWhich-passes around wheels 22, as shown, to the hopper 6. One or more ofthe hoppers may be used, depending upon the rate of production and thespeed with which'the sizing and tempering mechanism may be operated. Therings may be removed from the roller 18 by withdrawing said rollerlengthwise, or in any other suitable manner. After delivery -to thehopper, the rings pass downwardly through a tubular guide 23 by gravity.

The lowermost ring in the guide is adapted to rest against a feed slide24 which is slidably mounted on a die plate 25 on the bed of the punchpress 7. The free end of the slide 24 is shaped with a concavedrecess-26 adapted to fit against a side of a ring. The slide isperiodically reciprocated through connection of a lin 27-at one end tothe slide and at the opposite end to one arm of a bell-crank lever 28pivotally mounted at one-side of the frame of the press, a link 29having connection at one end to the other arm of the lever and at itsopposite end being mounted off-center on the shaft 30 of the press,whereby with each revolution of the shaft, the slide isreciprocated. Inits movement, the slide passes from under the column of rings as shownin Fig. 9, permitting the rings to drop so that the lowermost ring isrestin against the plate 25. On

the return of the s ide, its recessed end bears against the lowermostrin and moves it in front of the slide to the die and punch constructionwhich is used for pressing thering to size and for tempering it by suchcompression.

7 The ram 31 of the press, operated by the shaft 30, at its lower endcarries a circular punch 32 having a diameter of the exact size of thefinished ring on its inner side when the ends of the ring are forcedtogether. Below the ram and punch, a die is formed in the plate 25having a downwardly and inwardly inclined annular entrance to the lowercylindrical recess of the die, the inclined guide entrance 33 serving tocarry the ring into the-recess 34 on the downward movement of the ram.The diameter of the recess 34 is equal to the outer diameter of thefinished ring when the ends are forced together. In the lower end of therecess, a circular ejector plate 35 is located at the upper end of a rod36.

The ring is carried by slide 24 to the die while the ram is in upperposition, the slide moving back as the ram descends. The ring is forceddownwardly into the cylindrical recess 34 as the ram and punch movedownwardly and against the plate 35. The metal of the ring, somewhatlarger in cross section than the cross section of the completed ring isthus compressed to the smaller size on all sides, making the ringabsolutely accurate in size and at the same time changing the temper ofthe metal so that it has a resiliency or spring that it did not havebefore, whereby the rin springs outwardly so as to closely enga e t ewalls of a cylinder in which it is instal ed around a piston. 0n theupward movement of'the ram, the ring is ejected from the die by theejector plate 35 in the usual manner.

This process makes it possible with relatively small equipment toproduce accurate piston rings all of a size in large quantities. Bychanging the position of the stop bar 10 in the first punch press, ringsof greater length circumferentially may he made,it of course beingobvious that the rolling .rollers and the hoppers and sizing andtempering mechanism must be made to correspond.

The metal used is an alloy, the constituency of which has noparticularly essential hearing in the present invention so far as the.

process of manufacture is concerned. Rings made in accordance with thisprocess have had extensive test and have tionally satisfactory.

I claim: 1

1. The herein described method of making piston rings which consists incompressing a ring having a cross section larger than the completed ringto a smaller size in cross section substantially as described.

proved excep- 2. The herein described method of making 4 piston ringswhich consists in providing a ring havingl size larger t an thecompleted ring, and compressing the rin on all sides to reduce the crosssection to t at for the completed ring, substantially as described.

a cross section of metal or a.

3. The herein described method of making piston rings which consists incontracting a parted metal ringof out-of-round shape to circular formand compressing the metal uniformly to reduce the cross-sectional areathereof throughout its entire length, substantially as described.

4. The herein described method of making piston rings which consists incontracting a parted metal ring of uniform cross section andout-of-round shape to circular form and compressing the ring uniformlyon all sides to thereby compress the metal and reduce itscross-sectional area, substantially as described.

5. The herein described method of making piston rings which consists inrolling a bar of metal into a parted ring shape with an out-of-roundform,' contracting the same to circular form and compressing the metalso that its cross section is of less size than the cross section of thebar from which it is made, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CHARLES E. CARSON.

